In the process of shipping one or more articles in a container from one location to another, a protective packaging material or other type of dunnage typically is placed in the container to fill any voids and/or to cushion the article during transport. Some commonly used dunnage materials are plastic foam peanuts, plastic bubble pack, air bags and converted paper dunnage material.
In many instances, the dunnage material is used to top-fill a container in which an article has been placed, thereby filling any remaining void in the container and thus preventing or minimizing any shifting movement of the article in the container during shipment. Automated dispensers include, for example: plastic peanut dispensers, which are often associated with an air delivery system; foam-in-place dispensers, air bag machines and paper dunnage converters.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,871,429 discloses a packaging system with a probe for sensing the void in a container and a dunnage converter having a controller for controlling the feeding and cutting of a strip of dunnage material such that the amount of dunnage material produced is the amount needed to fill the void in the container.